Russia sends Special Forces to Minsk for joint exercises with Belarus

On Monday, September 25, a unit of Russian Special Forces arrived in Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, as reported by the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

"Today, a unit of separate, special-purpose Russian Airborne Troops arrived in Minsk to take part in a joint, bilateral, tactical, special exercise," the report says.

According to the Defense Ministry, preparations for the training will be carried out from September 25 to October 8.

"During the exercise, which will be held at one of the training areas of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, Russian special-purpose Airborne Troops and special operations forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus will work together fulfilling their tasks," the ministry said.

Russia most recently concluded its latest joint exercise with Belarus, the Zapad-2017, on September 20. NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said that the scale of the exercises exceeded initial expectations.